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COURSE CARE

Winter Damage: Location
February 27, 2015

Winter Damage: Location

Just another New England spring: Twenty degrees above normal
one day, and twenty degrees below normal the next. The widely
fluctuating temperatures create many challenges for
superintendents who are attempting to nurse back annual
bluegrass from a long, cold winter. Timing of applications for
annual bluegrass seed heads and annual bluegrass weevil also is
made tougher with the temperature swings. The Web site
http://www.nrcc.cornell.edu/grass/degreedays/dd_weekly.html
provides growing degree day information for the Northeast, and
many Mid-Atlantic states to help with those management
decisions.

Winter Damage

Reports have been coming in regarding annual bluegrass
winter damage. Cold temperature and crown hydration injury has
left its mark across many golf courses in the Berkshire Region,
eastern New York, and more northern portions of New England and
Canada. Reports indicate that the damage was not selective as
both bentgrass and annual bluegrass have winter injury.

The extent of winter injury on golf
courses in northern portions of New England and Canada is
now being realized as warmer weather and the removal of
covers exposes the playing surfaces.

A "perfect storm" event in December may have been
responsible for the severe damage; heavy rain turned snow into
slush, which quickly turned to ice as temperatures rapidly fell
far below freezing. In the past, severe weather events like
this also have damaged the more tolerant bentgrass and Kentucky
bluegrass. The ice at many golf courses remained in place under
a good snow pack well into March. The encased plants were then
subjected to anoxic conditions (low oxygen).

Sporadic winter injury has occurred elsewhere as well with
more isolated reports of late winter and spring desiccation.
Fortunately, at least some of the injury in the southern
portions of the region appears to be more superficial as annual
bluegrass is responding favorably to what little warm weather
we have received.

Recovery Prognosis

Recovery for severely damaged golf courses will be a long
and painful process that is dependent on the spring weather and
a superintendent's ability to warm soil temperatures. Clear
permeable covers can elevate soil temperatures on sunny days
and help prevent heat loss at night. Working with covers is
never easy, especially if damage is wide spread. The covers
will have to be manipulated during warm, sunny days later in
the spring to avoid over heating the seedling plants. They also
will need to be replaced at night when freezing temperatures
are predicted. Also, topdressing with black sand can elevate
soil temperatures to speed seed germination and recovery.

Those who are working with damage exceeding fifty percent of
the green's surface or where primary cupping areas are injured
should utilize temporary greens if a full recovery is to be
expected to occur by early to mid-summer. Not closing the
greens is perhaps the biggest mistake we see and a primary
reason for a failed recovery and very disgruntled golfers later
in the season. The stigma with temporary greens is very real,
but not nearly as bad as that associated with poor putting
surfaces in July!

Severe winter injury is never easy to deal with, and
superintendents and staff will be working very long and hard
hours to recover the damaged areas and nurse the juvenile turf
through the summer. The need for patience through the recovery
process can not be emphasized enough! Golfers will hopefully
understand that, in most cases, there is no immediate action
that can be taken to prevent winter damage when the perfect
weather conditions happen to occur.

Once again, this winter season proved that it's all about
location when it comes to winter storms and cold temperature
injury. Let us know how your golf course fared this winter and
give us a call if we can help formulate a recovery strategy,
develop a winter protection strategy, and provide additional
support to work with the golfers.